The Minister of Health Ogerta Manastirliu explained how the COVID-19 vaccination programme will work in Albania.
The Albanian government is a part of the COVAX initiative and have prepaid EUR 3.9 million for some 570,000 doses of the vaccine. That is enough for a single dose for around 20% of the population.
It is not known yet which vaccine Albania will receive as so far COVAX has contracts with 10 companies that are working on developing a vaccine.
The Minister said that by paying a deposit, they have secured doses from potential vaccine candidates. She added that the Albanian government is committed to getting the vaccine and giving it to citizens for free.
The government is also planning to buy vaccines outside of the COVAX agreement. Vaccination will commence with 20% of the population, as per recommendations of experts. The first to be vaccinated will be high-risk groups including medical staff, teachers, police officers and others.
The Minister said they will have different strategies for the storage and distribution of the vaccine, depending on the type of vaccine the country will receive.
